


Operation Blank Slate

by ThylacineLily



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, Tags May Change, Team Free Will, WIP, s10
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-12
Updated: 2015-10-29
Packaged: 2018-03-12 00:54:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3338123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThylacineLily/pseuds/ThylacineLily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Still searching for away to cure Dean of the mark, the Winchester brothers stumble across some interesting information after they get caught in a snow storm that reveals an unexpected surprise for Team Free Will.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Troubled Skies

**Author's Note:**

> Just to let you know this fic is starting after Ms. Charlie has joined up with the guys at the Men of Letters bunker, but it is not following the show from this point on. I just decided that this point in the episodes is a good starting place for my story because it is going to have to do with the "powerful force" the guys need to find to help possibly cure Dean of the mark. Also, tags may be added as the story goes on, so bare with me please =)

A freak snowstorm was what drove the Winchester brothers to seek shelter in the small motel, that was located on some back road, in some city they didn't know the name of. For the last two weeks they had been just behind a string of freakish weather that was trailing across the states, and now it looked like they might have finally caught up with it, considering the roads were now too snow-covered to drive on when the radio said that the weather had called for a hot night. The other towns that had been affected by weird weather were stuck in sudden heat waves or heavy rain, or even a stray tornado, all gone within a day or so, leaving people baffled as to what had just happened.

The two brothers stood at the window, staring at the blizzard raging outside as the heater chugged inside in a pathetic attempt to provide warmth for the room's occupants. Dean was the first to break away from the window, and he moved to the table to sit in one of the two old, wooden chairs with cushioned seats that were sporting some weird red and brown pattern that blended in with all the other horrible decorations. Turning on Sam's laptop, he attempted to connect to the hotel's WiFi but the signal was pathetic, due to the odd weather outside, so that didn't work well.

Dean scoffed at the inconvenience and started opening the lore files that Sam had saved during their years of being hunters. "Why a blizzard?" He glanced up at his brother, who was in the process of sitting across from him at the table. "Most of the weather has at least been reasonable to the area. A blizzard in July? In Iowa of all places?"

Sam shook his head as he turned his computer towards him, seeing as he was better at research than his brother, who was lazy at it, unless of course the case seriously piqued his interest. "I don't understand it either. I'm not even sure it's a demon thing at this point. It looked like it at first, with the electrical storms, but now the way it's changing, I don't know what to think."

"Yeah," Dean shifted in his chair, uncomfortable as his hunter instincts, and memories of getting drawn by bad weather to the Elysian Fields Hotel so many years ago, made him uneasy. Ever since that rainy night, if bad weather was the reason they stopped at a hotel, his nerves went on end, and this place was no exception, no matter how low class the place was. "But what's got...whatever this is, so worked up?"

Sam gave a small shake of his head as he browsed though his files, trying to find something that would cause such sporadic weather changes. "Your guess is as good as mine." He glanced up at Dean, understanding the barely contained fidgeting of his older brother, and knowing to save his breath on pointing it out. "Hey, why don't you see what the news is saying?"

Dean rolled his eyes, but definitely didn't object at a chance to watch TV, before he got up and made his way to the bed that he had claimed earlier. He paused on his trip long enough to turn the TV on and grab the remote before he stretched out on the mattress, eventually coming to rest with his upper back against the headboard and his arm draped over his stomach.

As soon as he was settled he started going through the channels, stopping when he found the news since they had some poor sap standing outside in the raging storm with a parka and a mic. At the bottom of the screen was a news ticker that read ' _BIZZAR BLIZZARD HITS OSCEOLA IN CLARKE COUNTY_ ', telling Dean which city they were in. As soon as Dean was about to change the channel, due to the station's lack of knowledge, the blizzard abruptly stopped, which made Dean shoot up straight.

"Sammy."

Sam looked up at the urgency in Dean's voice just in time to see the guy in the parka push back his hood to look around as he frantically told the camera that the clouds had begun dispersing. Sam's face contorted slightly in disbelief as he and Dean looked at each other. "What just happened?"

"The freaking storm just _stopped_ on live TV," Dean answered, while also answering the silent question of _'Did that just happen?_ ' as he tried to fully take in what he just saw. At the same time he was affirming that something was going on, right now, with them in town. He got up, went to the window, and pulled back the curtain some to reveal clear night skies without a cloud in sight and a blanket of powder on the ground. "Dude, come take a look at this."

Sam got up from his chair and joined Dean at the window. When he pulled the curtain open further, his jaw dropped a bit at the sight. "I've never seen anything like this, have you?" He turned his head to look over at Dean as the other hunter shook his head. "Maybe call Charlie to see if she's found anything in the books?"

"Sounds good," Dean answered as he shut the curtain after taking a quick, customary glance around outside, now that something could be around.

While Sam got on the phone with Charlie, Dean took out his phone and called someone else. It took a few rings before the familiar, gravelly voice picked up on their side.

"Hello Dean."

"Hey Cas," he greeted in return. "Do you have a chance to talk?"

"For the time being I am not busy," Cas answered. "What did you need?"

"Have you found out anything about this weather yet?"

"Unfortunately," he sighed heavily, "I haven't. Are you having any success on your side?"

"Actually, Sam and I might be in the eye of the storm," Dean answered and he could almost picture the angel's brows coming together in worry. "We're at the Evergreen Inn in some funky name town in Iowa and the weather stopped mid-storm all over the city, at one time."

"Are the witnesses su-"

"Cas," Dean interrupted, “me and Sam were watching the news when it happened. It just stopped--as if someone just turned off an ice shower--and neither of us have heard of anything with this kind of mojo, have you?"

There was a few moments of silence before Castiel finally spoke again. "No." Another sigh, this one as full of frustration. "I haven't. But now it sounds to me like you might be in danger. If something was trying to get your attention..."

"We just pulled a Leroy Jenkins." Dean shook his head as he sat on the edge of his bed.

"I don't understand that reference."

"We rushed in like fools."

"Oh, then yes, you pulled a...Leroy Jenkins."

It was difficult, but out of respect for the angel, he managed to not laugh, settling for a huge grin that he wasn't able to prevent. "Anyway, keep your feelers out, I'm going to see what else the boob tube has to say."

"I'll be in touch if I find anything."

"Yup, same here."

Dean hung up and stood from the bed, moving past Sam to look out the window again. He didn't pull the curtain open as far this time, and as he looked out he noticed that the snow on the windowsill was already melting. It was obvious to him that he wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight, and with that thought he went to work on putting up sigils to keep them hidden in case they were indeed being watched by something, or someone.

\----- 

Through the night the Winchesters continued researching and calling around, but their efforts failed to turn up anything of use. By the time morning came the brothers had decided they would risk going into town to see if they could find out about anything that might have happened before the blizzard hit the town. After not sleeping through the night, Dean decided that a cold shower would do good at keeping him awake and when he came out Sam went in, agreeing it was what he needed as well.

Dean went outside ahead of Sam, to check on Baby because he could swear he heard a whining from under the hood when they parked last night. Outside there was still a bit of snow but most of it had been melted by the increasing temperatures. At this rate the snow would be fully gone before the sun started to set.

Dean had the hood propped up and was leaning over the engine when he noticed someone approaching him out of his peripheral vision and tensed slightly as he worked. As the person stopped within a few feet of him and his car, and then cleared their throat to get his attention, Dean looked up at the younger male who was possibly just barely out of his teens.

"I'm so sorry to bother you," the other male apologized, "but I just have to say that your car is wicked awesome. What is she, mid-to-late 60's?"

Dean gave a nod as he stood upright, eyeing the stranger with slight weariness that he tried to not be obvious with. "This baby is a '67," Dean answered with a little pride to his voice. It was the kind of tone all car enthusiasts had when showing off their vehicle. "Good eye."

The stranger smiled around the sucker stick that was slid to the corner of his mouth. "I've always loved cars, especially classics like this one. It's a good thing she didn't get damaged by the hale last night."

Dean frowned at the thought of multiple dents and dings in his car's body. "We came in from behind that thing; I didn't even know there had been hale." Hell, he had a witness without even leaving the parking lot, why not get a little questioning in? "Anything else weird happen before the storm? Besides it going from hot to freezing, obviously."

"Well, yesterday the morning news said it was supposed to reach record heat temperatures by mid-day, but by then we had heavy rain, by early evening we had the hale, and then the blizzard." The stranger frowned. "I've never seen anything like it... Well, you looked like you were busy, I'll let you go. Keep taking care of that beauty."

Dean watched the retreating form of the kid, until he disappeared into the front office, and went back to checking out his car. He was just shutting the hood when Sam finally came out, dressed in his usual blue jeans and plaid button-up shirt.

"Did you get the noise fixed?" Sam asked, already figuring out why Dean was gone when he came out of the bathroom.

"Just a loose belt," Dean answered as he wiped his hands on his rag that he had pulled from the trunk when he got out his tools. "But yeah, I got her fixed."

The ride into town didn't last long, but it was filled with conversation, including Dean telling Sam what the stranger had told him...while slipping it in that someone had called his Baby "wicked awesome" with a grin. Sam rolled his eyes at his car-crazed brother and got out when Dean parked the Impala at a gas pump outside of a place called Casey’s Grocery Store.

Walking inside, Sam went up to the counter and handed over some money so Dean could gas up his car. “Some crazy weather you guys are having,” Sam commented, trying to lead into small talk.

The guy behind the counter unwrapped a piece of chocolate and popped it in his mouth as he nodded in agreement. “Yeah,” he replied and shrugged his shoulders, “it’s got the bible thumpers of the town crying ‘ _Rapture_ ’. Even the sanest guy in this part of town is talking crazy crap.”

“You mean crazy, besides rapture?” Sam questioned as his brows rose in curiosity.

“The guy said he saw something _IN_ the storm, some light or some shit.” The guy chuckled and tossed the little balled up wrapper from his chocolate. “This dude’s been the manager at Fareway Grocery for almost six years, and it’s finally got to the guy.”

“He doesn’t usually say stuff like this?” Sam prodded, seeing the potential of a hint as to what’s going on.

“No way,” scoffed the guy as he unwrapped another piece of chocolate. The register made a noise and he looked over before he tapped somewhere on the screen and took money from the till. He handed it over to Sam with the explanation, “Looks like your car didn’t need as much as you thought.”

“Thanks… Hey, you said the manager worked at Fareway Grocery? Can you point me in his direction?” Sam asked as he pocketed the change from Dean’s fill up.


	2. Clueing For Looks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The brothers have found the guy who says he saw something in the storm, but is his information useful?

The older man, whose name tag read Stephen, fidgeted slightly in his seat across from Sam and Dean. The trio were in the manager's office in the back of the store so they could talk without interruption, and the guy was obviously very hesitant to talk. "I only saw it for a moment," he finally started, "so for all I know it could have been lightning or something." Even as he said the words he didn't seem to believe them himself.

"Look, whatever you saw, or think you saw, we're not going to laugh at you," Dean said as politely as he could manage.

"You see," Sam cut in, knowing his brother could possibly make this guy clam up, "we've been chasing storms for a long time, so nothing is really new to us. We've been following some pretty freaky weather patterns lately, so anything you could tell us would be a big help."

While Sam was talking to him, Stephen visibly relaxed some and nodded. "And no one will hear what I'm telling you, right?"

"Right," Dean answered, flashing a smile at their only real lead.

Stephen glanced between the two brothers and sighed. "I saw something before the storm hit," he said quietly, almost as if he worried about eavesdroppers. "It was kind of like a blue-ish white light, and almost as soon as it went across the sky, the clouds got darker, and soon it was raining. It was almost like the storm rode in this thing's wake."

"This light, did it hover or move around erratically?"

Stephen looked to Sam and shook his head. "No," he spoke, "it went from one part of the sky to the other, like a car traveling on a road, just straight across."

"Did any noises accompany it?" Dean questioned, thinking about his first run-in with Castiel.

"I couldn't answer you there," he replied with an apologetic look. "I was inside, looking out my window at home. I was thinking about going over to the lake when I noticed it. I think I only noticed it because of the clouds turning dark as it passed them, like some weird light-powered paint brush. I saw it one more time, right before the blizzard ended, and it disappeared over near West McLane."

Dean and Sam managed to contain their surprise as Sam made a few notes in the small pad he had with him. "So, just to clarify, its appearances were the beginning and end of the weather yesterday?"

"I don't know if it actually was the beginning or end of _anything_ ," Stephen hastily insisted. "I'm just saying that they both happened around the same time."

"And you said it disappeared over West McLane? Do you know where it was above during the first time you noticed it?"

"Seemed like it was just above the whole town," Stephen answered. "It was higher up then, too, like a balloon or something, but when it disappeared it was lower so it was easier to pinpoint."

Sam made a few notes in his notepad before he shut it. He stood up, prompting Dean to rise, and held out his hand to Stephen. "Thank you for your time, sir," Sam said as the manager shook his extended hand after standing up as well. "You have been a huge help to our research."

"Just do me a favor and keep my name out this," Stephen replied as he let go of Sam's hand. "I'm glad I could help you boys, I just don't need more people laughing at me."

"Understandable," Sam said with a nod and a small, sympathetic smile. "Thank you again for your time."

Sam and Dean waited until they were outside to start talking, not wanting anyone to overhear their conversation, and soon as they were settled inside the car Sam looked over his notes.

"This is getting weirder with every piece of information we get," Dean grumbled as he looked over at Sam.

"Something is definitely going on here," Sam replied. "The guy said the light disappeared over the same street our hotel is on."

"Which means Cas was right... Crap."

"So, whatever this thing is, it can change skies in an instant, and it's possibly near the hotel..."

"Possibly waiting for us," Dean finished.

"We should call Cas and see if this new information tells him anything." As he was sharing his idea with Dean, Sam also worked his cell phone from his pocket. He processed to tap the screen a few times before he tapped the speaker button when the phone rang. It took a few rings, and Sam was worried they would only get voicemail, but Castiel did finally pick up.

"Hello Sam."

"Hey Cas," Sam greeted back, "Okay, so, we finally got a lead on this whole storm thing. Do you have a minute?”

“Should I grab Charlie, so she can listen in?”

“It doesn’t matter, but it’s up to you. Want me to wait while you get her?”

“I will fill her in,” Cas said after a moment of silence. “What did you find out?”

As Sam filled Castiel in on the new information, Dean kept an eye out for anything weird. He was trying to keep his thoughts from straying to the Mark of Cain that was a little irritated today. Something had his mark burning in his arm, and he was more than ready to find the end of it. He would also be more than happy to find a way to get rid of the mark, but he was losing hope that this would happen. As Sam finished getting Castiel caught up to speed, Dean keyed back into the conversation in case he were needed for anything. He brought himself back to the conversation in time for Castiel to go quiet. He was quiet long enough that Sam wondered if the call had been lost.

“Cas?” Sam queried as he checked his screen to make sure the call was still connected.

“A blue-ish white light sounds a lot like an angel’s grace,” Castiel’s voice, heavy with concern, came over the line. “But why would an angel go through all of this just to attract you? They usually don’t have any problem seeking you out. And why would it risk letting itself be seen like that?”

“Yeah, well, something’s definitely here in town with us,” Dean chipped in. “For all we know it’s waiting for us back at the hotel, since that’s where what’s-his-face said it looked like it disappeared.”

“I should come out to you guys,” Cas replied. “If there is an angel there, you two should not go up against it alone. Also, there are a few angels who were irritated at Dean for what he did to Metatron while he was under my care. He may have caused the gates of Heaven to close, but he is still the voice of our Father.”

“Don’t even get me started on that creep,” Dean grumbled. “Either way Cas, it’s a six hour drive, and you’re in no shape to be fighting with an angel that has all of its juice.”

“Neither are you, if that is what you’re up against.”

“So, what should we do Cas?” Sam cut in when he started to dislike where things were headed.

“I’m coming out,” Cas answered, “and you two are going to stay away from the hotel until I get there. When I get to town I will call and we can meet up somewhere before going to the hotel together.”

“What the hell are we supposed to do for six hours?” Dean cut back in, frowning at the thought of having to wait for Castiel to get there, when he would rather the angel stay somewhere safe, like the bunker, with Charlie.

“Do more digging,” Cas answered. “I will be there as soon as possible.”

Sam was grinning when he hung up with Castiel, earning a look from Dean that triggered a snicker.

“What?” Dean snapped, hating that stupid grin on his little brother’s face.

“You two fight like an old married couple,” Sam answered as Dean started the car and pulled out of the parking lot of the Fareway Grocery store. “It’s hilarious.”

Sitting on top of Fareway Grocery, a figure watched the Impala and its occupants. He wasn't sure if the Winchesters would even give him a chance to say what he had to say, but he had hope that they would. He would have an advantage when the angel showed up, and it made him a little excited that he would finally get to meet the famous Castiel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like the new chapter, and I'm curious to see who you guys think is watching the boys. Comments are always appreciated =)


	3. Thin Air

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel is finally here now, and they can discuss what to do about this mysterious entity...Or can they?

To make the next five hours--Cas getting lost stretched it to seven hours--fly by, the Winchesters had lunch and made their way around town, talking to anyone who would answer their questions. A few people seemed like the type who would try to sell their story to the Weekly World News, whereas other people actually seemed sincere. The ones who requested their names be left out of the papers, who had to be gently coaxed by Sam to talk--because their reluctance finally started to wear on Dean--were the ones who were more believable.

After losing half of their day to seeking any leads they could, Dean was relieved when a certain angel sent him a text that let him know he was getting gas over in Afton, and that he would wait for them to let him know to move on.

A secret that Dean had managed to keep from Sam, was that he had started texting a little more lately, since his friend seemed to have been sincere when he admitted that he liked this form of communication. It was one of the more human things that Castiel had picked up, and luckily, it was one of the better ones. When Castiel had admitted his fondness of the emoticons Dean had rolled his eyes, but honestly it has been one of the most endearing moments that Castiel had shared with him--even if there had been others in the room.

When they were discussing Castiel coming out, they thought about the fact that, whatever this thing was, it was able to tell when they were in town and where they were. Factoring this information in they decided Castiel would come up Route 34 and then go up I-35, going past Osceola. He would follow I-35 until the exit for County Road 152 and get off when it connected to Route 69 where he would meet up with, or wait for, Sam and Dean at the first open stretch of road that either party could find. Sam had used his laptop, and Google Maps, to find a good meeting area for them, but you never know how outdated some satellite pictures could be. But, now that Castiel was headed their way, they climbed into the Impala and drove towards their destination. They hoped that their movements would go unnoticed by this mysterious creature so they could discuss a game plan without any unwanted interruptions.

Sam looked out at the scenery as Dean drove, his thoughts going from one thing to the next; he thought of Dean's mark, and Castiel's fading, borrowed Grace, as well as what would happen if they found Cain. He was quietly looking for any sign of hope when Dean broke into his thoughts.

"Why do you think this thing is announcing itself like this?" Dean questioned as he kept his gaze focused out the windshield. "You think it's trying to warn us, or something?"

"I think Cas might be right." Sam answered, looking over at his brother. "I think it's trying to get our attention, but why not contact us in some other way?"

"Why contact us at all?" Dean scoffed. "I mean, we are _hunters_ , why wouldn't it just attack as soon as it knew where we were?"

"I don't know." Sam replied as he brushed some hair back behind his ear. "Maybe it likes playing games? Hell, it changed the weather just to put it back to normal."

"If I didn't know he was dead, this would have Gabriel written all over it." Dean's voice only held a hint of something unkind as he spoke of the deceased archangel.

He still held a small bit of bitterness, from dying so many times at the Mystery Spot, and even though he didn't remember a lick of it, Sam had been affected by it for a long time. And then, of course, he had tried to force them both into accepting their roles as the vessels for the two angels that were now back in the cage. Getting both of "dickless bastards", as Dean had called them, back into the cage had been partially thanks to Gabriel for getting Sam and Dean away from the Elysian Fields Hotel when Lucifer basically had them pinned down. If he hadn't given his life that night who knew how things would be by now...

"Yeah..."

Sam's tone held an odd, yet familiar tone to it, but Dean let it go. He didn't do that chick flick crap, and he didn't want to know why Sam would even grieve for someone they never got too close to. The archangel may have come through for them in the end, but Dean called it even with that final act. 

The rest of the drive was held in silence, which was fine by both brothers, and when they finally saw the familiar '78 Lincoln Continental, with a familiar trench coat leaning against it, Dean felt the usual, small jump start that his heart gave at the sight of his friend. He did his best to ignore moments like this, when all he wanted to do was give a huge smile to the person that was waiting for them, because there was never a right time for this relationship--or whatever it was he tried to keep himself from wanting--to take any kind of form. Besides, he could be on Death's door, and the last thing he wanted to do was let the fallen angel in, just to leave him behind when he loses to the mark.

After parking his car behind Castiel's, he climbed out of the Impala. Instead of the wide, toothy smile he wanted to give his friend, his lips formed a small, lop-sided Dean Winchester grin. "Hey Cas," he said to the older male that was approaching him and Sam.

"Hello Dean," Castiel replied as he stopped in front of Dean, with something that could barely be called a foot between them. "How are you doing?" He queried innocently, even though they both knew what he was referring to, even if Dean wouldn't admit it.

"I'm doing okay for the most part." Dean answered as he moved to the front of his car in an attempt to put some space between them. He counted this as a successful attempt at dodging the actual question presented to him, since his friend didn't come right out and ask what he wanted to. Sure, it was a crappy loop hole to use, but it's not like Dean had been spared from this type of trick from Castiel before.

Castiel furrowed his brows at Dean's back and caught eyes with Sam for a moment as he silently asked the question of the younger Winchester. He frowned when Sam gave a subtle shake of his head as the fallen angel came to lean against the back of his car so that he could face the brothers.

"There is definitely something strong nearby." Castiel said, which only confirmed their worries that they weren't lucky enough to have something simple, despite the big stuff going on. "I felt its presence as soon as I got near the town."

"Can you tell what it is yet?" Dean asked as he folded his arms over his chest.

"It's doing good at hiding what it is." The angel answered with a small, defeated, momentary duck of his head.

The borrowed Grace did not give him the power to read through such spells, but it still let him pick up on other supernatural creatures. It unnerved him to be flying blind, even though he was working on getting his Grace back. He was getting closer to becoming human, or running out of Grace and possibly dying, but he could work on getting his Grace back once Dean was rid of the Mark of Cain. Until whichever day came first, Castiel would stay by the older Winchester's side.

"So, we know it's ridiculously strong, and no lore we've heard of talks about anything like it, so what should our game plan be?" Dean asked.

"Obviously we can't just rush in," Sam replied, putting in his opinion, "but this thing has a beat on us now, so who knows how far we can get--if we try to run--before it finds us again."

"It might be expecting you to run." Castiel spoke up, turning his attention to Sam. "If you run, you could be enticing a chase that you won't like the ending to."

"Alright, then what do you suggest for going in?" Dean lightly challenged.

Ignoring Dean's hostility, Castiel thought to himself for a moment before he gave a reply in the form of a question. "Did your research turn anything new up?"

"A few witnesses said that they had some electrical interferences, but nothing lasting into today." Dean answered. He tensed when he started to get the feeling that someone was watching them, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. A quick glance at the other two didn't show any signs that they had noticed anything, so he put his attention back on Castiel. "A few others claimed that they were feeling better after feeling sick for the last couple of days."

"So this must be an angel," Castiel said with a soft sigh as he looked to the ground for a moment before he looked up again. His eyes grew wide when he looked to the spot beside Dean where Sam was standing by the Impala.

Dean followed Castiel’s troubled stare with his own eyes and his own eyes grew wide as he saw that Sam was nowhere to be seen. "Sam?!" He cried out as he quickly whipped around, looking desperately for his little brother. His heart hammered in his chest as he turned to look at Castiel for an explanation, only to find him missing as well. "Cas?!"

All it took was for him to blink once and suddenly he was standing next to both Sam and Cas. The trio was standing in the hotel room, back in Osceola, and standing before them was a familiar face that gave a smile upon seeing Dean arrive. “Hey Dean.”


	4. Explain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, our guys get some answers.

Dean Winchester was angry at himself as he looked at the being before him. Angry for being fooled so easily when the signs were in front of him, and angry for not realizing years ago they had to have been fooled. His mind kept going back to those damn signs though. The crazy weather to mess with people, as well as the freaking sucker stick in the corner of his stupid mouth while they had been talking about Dean’s car. But why didn't he look like he did when they last spoke? Dean just quickly assumed that Gabriel had finally left his last vessel and taken on a new one.

"You son of a bitch." The words came out in a partial growl as Dean narrowed his eyes at the one he thought was Gabriel. He clenched his fist and started to go forward, ready to deck the supposed archangel, but the "vessel" quickly held up his hands, making Dean halt in case of angel mojo being aimed at him.

"Don't hit me!" The guy said as he moved backwards, panic flooding his features. "I don't want any trouble." Not knowing the track Dean's mind was on, the young adult had been expecting Dean to attack like this, but thought it was happening out of protective instincts for Castiel and Sam.

"You don't want trouble!?" Dean laughed at the hilarity of those words coming from "Gabriel". "All you want is trouble! You're the Trickster!"

The stranger’s face fell as a look of realization crept into his eyes, followed by something else entirely. Sam wondered if it was grief.

"Dean..." Sam stepped forward, slowly as to not startle the guy, who was the same guy that he had spoken to at the gas station; the one who had been popping chocolates during their conversation. "I don't...think...that's Gabriel."

"It's not."

Castiel's voice cut through the tension as he cocked his head slightly, while his eyes studied the features of the boy. "He's a nephilim, far from the archangel my brother was."

"Oh, now you can see what we're dealing with?" Dean questioned, his tone biting and irritated.

Castiel drew himself up and squared his shoulders in a way that Dean quickly recognized to be his "angel of the Lord" stance as he focused an intense stare in Dean's direction. The display warned the Winchester to watch what he said to the angel, and let him know he had irked Castiel. "I told you before that I was being stopped by a strong hiding spell."

In an attempt to get back on track, Dean turned is attention back to the stranger. "Who the hell are you then?" He snapped, his patience worn thin at this point.

"My name is Chester," the half-angel answered, "but I do know Gabriel... He's my father."

"Gabriel's your...father?" Sam parroted in surprise as his eyebrows shot up.

Chester nodded as he shot a nervous glance to Dean, who was staring at him and making him very uneasy, before he looked to Castiel, who was also staring at him, his gaze quizzical. "It's awesome to finally meet you Uncle Castiel." He smiled as he spoke, wanting to show the trio that he was friendly so Dean would stop giving off a threatening vibe. "My father told me all about you, and all of his brothers and sisters."

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Castiel replied as his eyes roamed over the young creature, assessing his nature. He frowned in confusion when he saw that there were two Graces buried inside, burning as they danced in a swirl within his body. "How…?"

"The DVD will explain it all," Chester said as he snapped his fingers, producing a DVD before he handed it to his uncle, "and I'll answer any questions you might still have."

"Tell me there's no porn on this one," Dean groaned. "The last DVD that son of a bitch gave us got way too dirty, even for me."

"I can assure you," Chester chuckled, "I am in this with my father, so there is definitely no porn on here."

"Thank God."

Castiel shot Dean an incredulous look as he handed the DVD to Sam, who was shooting Dean a look in the form of an eight-point-oh bitch face as he went to the table where he had left his laptop. Sam made sure to keep Chester in his field of vision, still not fully trusting him, as he got the laptop up and running before he set about getting the DVD screen up and ready for viewing. Castiel looked over as Sam turned his laptop towards them and pressed play before joining his brother and their friend. He had made sure to position the screen to where they could watch the DVD and still have Chester in sight in case things went South.

As the DVD began playing a familiar face split with a sarcastic smile when Gabriel knew the recording had started. "Hello boys," he drew out the o's a little in 'boys'. "If you're watching this then it means Chester found you. What did you think of the weather bait? Good, huh?" He paused to chuckle as the frame panned out, showing that the archangel was standing near a large lake that neither of the Winchesters, or Castiel, could recognize. He walked along the shoreline as he looked at the ground for a moment.

"I know the last time we saw each other you were pretty much lead to believe that I died when Luci stabbed me, or rather my doppelganger. You see boys, I wasn't just spewing crap when I told everyone that I had skipped ahead and seen how the story ended. I switched places with my doppelganger, to make sure Lucifer would go for it, and made one helluvah light show happen when he did."

Dean glanced at Castiel, who was staring intently at the screen with a look Dean couldn't read. He looked to his brother, who was copying Cas with his own weird look; his look reminded Dean of the weird tone Sam had in his voice earlier when the archangel had been brought up. His attention was drawn back to the screen when Gabriel started talking again, facing the screen now as he stood by Chester in the movie.

"This little knuckle head is Chester." He placed a hand on his son's shoulder as he spoke, puffing out his chest a little in fatherly pride before he grinned his lop-sided grin. "He is legitimately my son, and, in case you wanted to know, his mother is not in the picture. I met her when I went back into 'witness protection', and we got a little hot and heavy." Gabriel's eyes darkened as the corners of his mouth tugged down. Next to Gabriel, Chester was visibly uncomfortable with this, but he made no move to silence his dad. "She found out she was carrying him and wanted to get rid of him, so I just took him out and made her forget all about the both of us. Don't give me that look Castiel, I did what I had to do to save an innocent life."

Castiel, who had blanched at Gabriel seizing a child from its mother in such a way, bristled slightly at his brother's intuition on how he would be reacting. He could almost care less that his brother had created a nephilim. Castiel would have kept trying to pretend Gabriel had not known him very well, but Gabriel was the one other angel who new Castiel as well as he did. He frowned now as he became worried for his brother. The last time he saw his brother he was led to believe that he had just been speaking to a hallucination, manifested by Metatron. Had he somehow really been alive when Castiel saw him that night?

"I may have messed up by creating a nephilim, but he's going to do big things Cas. I made a deal with Death, to be able to change my future, since it would have meant changing when I was scheduled to die. We all know how Death hates deaths being altered, don‘t we?” He bounced his eyebrows as he smiled. “I did it because I wasn't ready to die yet. I had to see that certain things were taken care of, because I couldn't go down without knowing they had been. Besides, if he helped me do what I needed to do, then I could help ensure that the apocalypse didn‘t happen. Sorry you took that dive Sammy, I wish I could have changed that part. I would have if I could have, I mean it."

Sam fought to keep his face steady as a lump grew in his throat at the archangel’s sincere apology. He glanced at Chester, to give himself a reason to not show emotion, and found that the boy was staring at the screen with a look of loss and sadness, which twisted something in Sam's gut as he looked back to the screen. His mind was racing while he tried to figure out what Gabriel could have needed to do. And, on a darker note, why wasn't he here instead of a DVD if he survived Lucifer like he claimed?

"I bet you're wondering about his age, since I haven't been 'dead' too long," Gabriel said, making the three realize that the age of the other male did stand out since he had been made after the apocalypse had been prevented. "I raised him in a sped up pocket dimension, so he could have some semblance of a childhood, and if he’s found you at the right time, then he's twenty-seven. He has as much angel knowledge as you Cassie, and as much human knowledge as you Sam and Dean. I'm sorry to rush through all these _lovely_ cliff notes, but little me will fill in any blanks I might be leaving right now. I need to get to the big picture."

The trio exchanged looks with each other as the tension in the room grew due to his ominous tone.

"If things have stayed on track, then Dean has the Mark of Cain. If he doesn't, be glad, very glad." He had broken into a smile at the last few words, but it quickly fell away as he frowned. "But if he does, then you need Chester there. Long story short, my Grace is being stored in his body, which he can explain how. The why, however, is because you need my Grace to get rid of the mark."

Dean subconsciously rubbed his arm, where the mark burned hot beneath his skin, as if it was somehow aware it was being discussed. There had been nothing in the books or files that said anything about an angel's grace, but this lead was falling into their laps thanks to someone who was around at the time the events took place. His heart was suddenly pounding loud in his ears as it sank in, that after everything that happened an end might finally be near. He might actually have a way of staying with his angel.

"Chester will explain the details, so I'm not going to waste time repeating all he'll say. I am going to say this though, what Grace he has left once everything is said and done, Cassie, I'm talking to you here. If things are going as planned, you're running on borrowed Grace, and it's burning up. Take in the rest of my Grace, and it'll keep you going until you get what you're looking for. As long as the kid did his job right, you'll have a good bit of Grace left. Use it Cas, or everything I've done will have been for nothing."

Gabriel sighed softly as he raked his fingers through his hair, showing everyone a side that only the Winchesters were new to. He was being serious, and there was a look in his eyes that didn't sit right with Dean, or Sam.

"I hate to guilt you like this bro, but this is all mega important okay? Take care of Dean, okay? Speaking of... Hey Dean-o?"

Dean straightened slightly as video Gabriel addressed him.

"I need you to be nice to Chester." He gave a smirk that said he had somehow seen Dean's reaction to his son so far. "He may have all of the necessary knowledge to survive, but he's never been without me before, so this is first go round on Earth. He's going to be a little awkward, but I know you can help with that."

His smile changed slightly, just barely noticeable, but Sam saw it. "Samsquatch, while Dean's helping him be less awkward, can you make sure he doesn't toughen him up too much? We don't need a nephilim with Dean's personality walking about. You guys would be doomed."

Sam snickered as Dean grumbled to himself and looked over at Chester, who was focused solely on the laptop screen. He turned his attention back to the laptop himself to see Gabriel lightly rap his son's shoulder with a fist. "Take good care of my boy for me. He's going to be all that's left of me now, so don't you muttonheads mess him up, capisce?"

"Chester."

While the Chester on the screen stood still, the Chester that stood in the room with them straightened up as one would when awaiting orders. Then again, he was there when the DVD was being made, so he knew what was coming.

"Take care of those guys, and your uncle, and make sure they understand everything from here on, okay? You make sure you say _everything_ I told you to say. I love you kiddo, you too Cassie. Catch you boys later, Sam and Dean."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the people who gave kudos and the person who bookmarked, I really appreciate your feedback. Now that I know people ARE reading this, I would like it to be known that the boys are still going to be visiting other cities, so if there is somewhere you want them to go/investigate, let me know and I'll see if I can work it in =)


	5. Get Some Ice for That Hot Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean really does need to watch his temper...

"So..."

Sam was the one to break the silence that had fallen when the video had ended. His words drew everyone's attention to him and he shifted slightly under the multiple gazes before looking at Chester, who directed a small smile at him.

"There are so many questions that I don't even know where to start." Sam said as he raked his fingers through his hair.

"Is my brother still alive?" Castiel's question was spoken softly, sounding almost to Dean that he hadn't wanted to ask. He didn't want to; he just needed to know.

It was obvious when Chester hesitated to speak, and when his words did flow, they were very guarded, and definitely carefully chosen which explained the hesitation. "My father is still alive, but you can not go to him." He worried his lip between his teeth for a moment, mulling over what to say next before he continued. "If you go to him, it would risk ruining everything he is striving for."

"What is he getting out of this?" Dean half-demanded.

He didn't understand what Gabriel could want to finish so badly that he would help them with anything. All he had ever done was mess with them anyway, aside from in the end when he redeemed himself. Apparently he hadn’t even made the sacrifice Dean had been led to believe--but he still helped set in motion events that would help stop the apocalypse. His job was done, what could he be up to now?

"He saw something in the future, and he wants to make sure it happens." As Chester answered Dean, he looked to him and motioned to the arm that bore the mark. "Part of getting to that end goal is ridding you of that mark."

"That's another thing, how in the hell is his mojo going to fix it?" Dean folded his arms over his chest, partly as a way to draw his arm closer without looking suspicious. "And why isn't this with all of the other angelic lore?"

"My dad had to do a lot of digging to find it," Chester answered, taking the DVD as Sam handed it over to him. "He had channels and sources that none of you had access to, because of his deal with Death. I have the spell that his Grace needs to be used with, and we just need to get a few things for it. Now I'm sure you're in a hurry to get it done and over with-"

"Hell yeah I am," Dean interrupted, earning a four-point-oh bitch face from Sam.

Chester had a momentary twinge of a frown as he regarded Dean. "But," he continued with a tone that warned against any further interruptions, "there are some preparations to do, aside from getting some ingredients."

"Can't you just whip up everything yourself?"

"I can only use so much of my dad's Grace, “ Chester answered. “If I use more than allotted it could mess things up and I'm not fine with running that risk." Chester looked to his uncle. "Dad measured everything out just right based on the events he saw in the future, I can't mess it up, I'm sorry."

"I understand, Chester," Castiel said with a nod and a small smile before he shifted his gaze to Dean, " _we_ understand."

"Can I ask… What was his deal with Death?" Sam questioned as his curiosity got the better of him, since Death didn't like making too many deals. What could Gabriel offer him to make the deal worth it to the Horseman?

"I don't know," Chester answered, "he never told me."

"You never asked?" Dean questioned, disbelief evident in his voice.

"If he had wanted me to know he would have told me," Chester countered, his own tone getting defensive.

"If my old man made a deal with Death, I wouldn't just wait around for him to tell me."

"Because of the reasons he made his choices, I never questioned him." As Chester spoke he drew himself up some, irritated by the way Dean was speaking to him when the older Winchester was being pretty much handed everything. Gabriel had warned him that the elder Winchester could be a hot head, but he had no idea it was this bad. As he drew himself up, Castiel could see the shadows of his wings on the wall. They weren't as huge as angel wings, due to him being a nephilim, but they were still impressive. "My father did many good things you'll never know, and he made a huge sacrifice for you, so please stop challenging my choice to not question him."

"Dean."

The older Winchester looked at Castiel and immediately had an internal cringe at the slightly disappointed look he was getting from the former angel. There was also something else there; pleading? He didn’t let his stern exterior falter in the slightest though, even as he gave a sigh of frustration and turned his attention back to the nephilim.

“Fine, I’ll let it go.” He saw Castiel relax some out of the corner of his eye. “Moving on then, you said we have to get some things for the spell. What kind of things are we talking about here?”

“We have to get them in a certain order--something else Dad saw when he got a cheating look-- so I can only tell them to you one at a time. I wish I could tell them all to you in one go, but things are carefully planned out from this point on and any deviation from what Dad told me could cause problems for the end goal.” Chester glanced at Sam to make sure he still had the attention of both Winchesters before he looked back to Dean when he saw he had their attention. “That being said, the first thing we need to get involves a bit of a task. We need to get the ashes of a pure child.”

“And were you told where to get said ashes?”

“Hold on a second,” Sam cut in upon hearing Dean’s sarcastic tone, “Dean can I talk to you outside for a minute please?”

Dean was about to argue, but he saw the look Sam was giving him that said his baby brother wasn’t taking no for an answer. He rolled his eyes and headed to the door, surprisingly with Castiel in tow, as the three exited the room. Dean had barely gone three steps out of the room when Sam gently turned him around to face him.

“What the hell is your problem Dean?” Sam demanded in a harsh whisper, hoping to not have Chester hear the conversation and risk getting his feelings hurt by whatever might come out of his brother’s sometimes irrational mouth. “We have a way of getting rid of your mark and you’re treating the person helping us like total crap. I don’t understand you right now.”

“How do we know that this isn’t some set up?” Dean looked up at Sam, aware that Castiel had limited the distance between he and Dean as he watched the brothers from the side. “I’m having a hard time believing all of this crap. If Gabriel knew things would wind up this way, why didn’t he show up sooner? Why didn’t he warn Cas not to trust the lying mouthpiece? Why did he do everything that humans blame God for, and stand back to watch everything go down the crapper?”

“You heard Chester,” Sam tried to reason, his puppy eyes kicking into full gear as he looked at Dean, “he said things have to happen the way they are for a reason. Maybe part of his deal with Death was that he _couldn’t_ interfere. I know it sucks, but this is the way things are. I’m not any more happy with it than you, but you know what? You’re going to be cured after we do whatever it is we have to do.”

“Which we’re flying in the dark on.” Dean cut in when he saw the right moment. “I’m happy to possibly have a way out of this mess, I am, but Sammy we don’t know what that kid in there is going to ask us to get for the spell, and I’m not doing any sacrifices. No one is dying for me again, got it?”

An awkward silence fell between the two as the words hung in the air. Having the right moment to speak himself, Castiel gently put his hand on Dean’s shoulder, drawing the attention of the older Winchester to him. When Dean looked at him Castiel removed his hand and looked up into Dean’s eyes.

“My brother has requested that I--we--look after his only child,” he started, and as he spoke Dean’s jaw clenched slightly as he understood where this was going. “I’m going to honor his wishes, and I would request you do the same. He didn’t ask you to become best friends with him, but he did ask you to be nice, and I know you can do this. Could you, please?”

As Dean stared back at his friend, a few things went through his mind. If he chased away Chester, then Cas wouldn’t have a way to get his Grace back, and Dean wouldn’t be able to finally get rid of the mark. He finally had a chance to even _think_ about exploring feelings for the angel and he was about to ruin it. Also, whether or not Cas knew what he was doing, he was asking Dean to fight for him, and that was all it took to break through to Dean.

Next to them, Sam was watching the silent communication between his brother and his friend. He saw the look in Dean’s eyes and he gave an internal sigh of relief that Castiel had broken through to his brother, possibly in a way Sam couldn’t have, but at least it worked; whatever it was. He knew his brother cared for their friend--it was obvious to everyone--and he understood why Dean hadn’t tried to make anything of it. It wasn’t who his brother was. He had always had a hard time making a personal connection with someone due to their constant moving around when they were younger. He honestly hoped that maybe Castiel could break that pattern, especially since he was the only non-hunter they had known for this long.

Castiel graced Dean with a small, grateful smile as he gave a nod of his head and uttered a small, gravelly thanks. When the angel walked inside ahead of the brothers, Dean dared a look at Sam and glowered when he saw the small, corner-of-the-mouth smile that his brother was sporting. “Not a word Sam.”

Sam held his hands up to silently say he wouldn’t be saying anything and followed his brother into the hotel room. He looked at Chester as they entered the room, wondering suddenly if the nephilim had Castiel’s angelic hearing, and the guarded look in his eyes suggested that he did indeed.

“Look,” Dean said as he made his way, calmly, towards the honey-eyed guy, “we’re not getting off to that great of a start…”

He held out his hand, expecting Chester to shake it, but instead, he was startled and thrown off balance when the younger man smiled wide and lunged at him with a large hug. When he regained his balance, he glanced over the younger male’s shoulder at Sam, who was managing to stifle his laughter with a hand over his mouth. Dean gave Chester’s back an awkward pat before the nephilim pulled back and looked up at Dean, having inherited his father’s height.

“Just…don’t do that again, okay?”

Chester frowned in confusion. “But Dad said you loved hugs.”

Dean’s face went dead pan as Sam burst out laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to LeviathanVIII for their suggestion as to where the boys can go next. I did get an idea for what they're going to do, and I need a couple of more ideas for places since I'm going to be sending them to a few places. so I'm still open to suggestions. Also, if there are any questions you would like the boys, or even Castiel, to ask Chester, please do submit them and I might be able to work them in for you guys =). I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter. I'm on vacation in OH, but this thing was nagging the hell out of my brain so it had to get worked on.


	6. Little Talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little talk goes a long way...

_ **THEN** _

The girl with a broken heart had a slightly rounded face that was usually lit by her constant happiness, but was now nearly void of all emotion, save for the grief that was evident in her eyes. She said goodbye to her parents as they left for their night away from home and looked to the squirming infant that stared up at her with wide eyes. She was to care for her brother tonight, and then retire for the night as well, but things were different tonight.

She fed him at the right time, and made nothing for herself afterward. Instead she calmly went about cleaning up from his dinner and then readied her brother to be put down for the night. When she finally laid him down into his crib, she leaned further in and kissed his forehead, watching for a moment as his eyes slowly fluttered shut and his squirming ceased to small sleep movements. She leaned back up and left the nursery, and then the home, taking care to lock the door behind her before she walked towards her destination.

Along the way she thought of her beloved sailor and the life they were supposed to share as they grew older, and how that dream was taken from them when his ship went down in the Great Lakes of Michigan. They wouldn't grow old together, a fact that she knew everyone was happy about, but she would not grow old alone.

As the girl passed by the Tanner House, she saw the people on the porch waving to her, and she ignored them. She was too close to her destination for her to stop now, and as she arrived onto the pier, her heart began to pound louder in her ears as she thought of what she was about to do. She wondered momentarily if staying was worth it, but her chest tightened painfully at the thought of living without her sailor and it served to urge her forward. The girl climbed up onto the railing and stared down at the waters below before she, who didn't know how to swim, jumped into the waters of Lake Huron.

_ **NOW** _

Chester was nearly bouncing in his seat as he rode in the passenger seat of Castiel's old beat up car. He had opted to ride with Castiel as the angel's car followed the Impala on the trek to Forester, Michigan and it was obvious to Castiel that his nephew was eager to get things under way. It was refreshing for Castiel to have someone working so hard to help them get things right; it was made even better by the fact that it was Gabriel, alive and well, helping them. He took a moment to sneak a glance over at his nephew, to see him looking all around at the scenery that was flying by, which caused a small smile to tug at Castiel's lips.

"Chester?"

Upon hearing his name the nephilim looked at his uncle and smiled brightly. "Yes Uncle?"

"Thank you, for going along with your father's plans and helping the Winchesters and I." As he spoke Castiel focused momentarily on the passenger's side of the Impala, where Dean sat so he could gorge himself on the food he had insisted on picking up on their way out of town. It was one of the few times that Sam was allowed to drive Dean's beloved Baby. "You couldn't possibly imagine what it means to me."

"Dad told me a lot of things Uncle Cas," Chester replied as he looked to the car in front of them. "One of them being just how it is you feel for Dean, and it's easy to see how right he was." He looked at his uncle, and grinned mischievously at the red blooming across his cheeks. "And how he feels for you as well."

"Dean and I do share a profound bond," Castiel said as he faced forward and stiffened slightly at having his feelings spoken about so openly, "but it is 'nothing past friends' as the humans say."

Deciding not to push things, as his dad had warned him not to do, Chester changed the subject. "Have you figured it out yet? Why Dad gave me my name?"

"Gabriel had many reasons for all of his actions," Castiel mused as he took a brief moment to reminisce about time spent with his brother. A small smile accompanied the thoughts. "What was his reason for this one?"

"To make me part Winchester."

Castiel stole a moment of watching the road to watch his nephew. "I don't know what the brothers would think of that, but they won't argue it by the time we're done making things right. Once they get over anymore doubts they may have of you, they will welcome you into their space." He looked back to the road. "Despite how standoff-ish Dean may seem, he has been through a lot of events since Gabriel went back into hiding. Some have possibly scarred him for life and he still keeps going."

"That's why you look up to him so much." Chester's voice was full of awe as he spoke. "He gives you hope. It's also part of the reason Dad sent me to help; to ensure that all is not lost."

"Chester... Am I going to have the chance to see my brother once more?"

Chester aimed a full smile at Castiel and nodded enthusiastically. "You will."

\-----

Dean didn't want to admit it, but standing on the dock that over-looked Lake Huron was somewhat...relaxing. He wasn't used to the weird inner peace it gave him to be looking out over the small waves on this breezy day. Inside the Aspen Cabin, at the Wings Over the Lake Cabins, Chester and Castiel were working with Sam on doing research on Minnie Quay--the girl whose ashes they were after--and he decided to step out, to get some fresh air. The cabin had two bedrooms, and the fallen angel and half-angel were going to share a room so they could talk, while Sam was taking the other room since Dean had called the L-shaped couch in the living room.

He and Sam had wound up sharing a bed before, when they were younger, or couldn't afford a room with two beds, but ever since they had basically inherited the Men of Letters bunker, he didn't like the thought of having to share a room, or bed, with anyone. Though there was one person he would make an exception for; if things were to ever go in that direction. Dean was dragged from his thoughts at the sound of unfamiliar footsteps approaching him, and he tensed, ready for something to happen, before he looked over his shoulder and relaxed some when he saw Chester.

The nephilim gave a small smile as he stopped in his tracks. "Mind if I join you?"

Dean gave a non-committal shrug and looked back over the lake as he leaned on the dock rail. "Free country."

Chester moved to stand against the rail, looking out over the lake as the wind coming across the surface stirred his hair. "I wanted a chance to talk to you, without Sam or my uncle around..." He toyed with the hem of his long-sleeved shirt before he looked at Dean. "I know you and my Dad have a bad past Dean, but I want you to know he regretted what he did to you guys. He thought what he was doing for the better, because he didn't see what Uncle Cas saw in you and your brother yet. I'm not trying to justify what he did at the Mystery Spot, or when he trapped you guys in the television pocket dimension-"

"Then what are you doing exactly?" Dean cut in, turning his head to look at Chester with narrowed, suspicious eyes.

Chester worried his lip, an obvious nervous habit of his, and looked out at the water. "I'm trying to help open your eyes to who he is now. He fucked up, that much is true, but you and Sam, you guys changed his view on a lot of things. You gave him faith that he hadn't had in a long time, and showed him that not all humans are the same."

"Why are you telling me all of this?"

"Because, Dean, after all is said and done, and the mark is gone, and you guys can _finally_ take a break, he wants to be a part of Uncle Cas's life again." Chester brushed his wind-blown hair backwards and sighed. "He knows that Uncle Cas plans on staying by you and your brother as long as you'll have him around, and the last thing he wants now is for there to be so much animosity that it causes problems for everyone."

"He thinks we would keep him away from his brother?"

"You guys hate him Dean, what do you think?"

Dean frowned and shook his head. "Aside from some seriously special occasions, I would never keep anyone away from their family. Gabriel and Cas are no exception to that. Your dad may be a huge freaking jerk in my memories but I couldn't ever ask Cas to stay away from his brother."

"You would put aside your differences for a visit?" Chester queried in total confusion. It was obvious that this was not something that either him or Gabriel had expected from the older Winchester.

"If Gabriel wants to see Cas, without any funny business, I wouldn't even break out an angel blade."

Without thinking about it--he was just too happy--Chester launched himself at Dean, hugging him tightly despite prior warning not to. Dean lightly pat his shoulder in the awkward hug and Chester let go, beaming at Dean a smile that was more and more obviously his father's.

Dean fixed his shirt and coat and looked around to make sure no one had been witness to the kid's affectionate ways. Satisfied that no one had seen it, Dean looked at Chester with an embarrassed scowl and put a foot or two between them. "What did I say about that hugging crap?" Dean grouched. "I don't do chick flick moments. Got it?" He had a momentary inward cringe at a stray thought about the girls from the Calliope case who had made a play out of his and Sam's lives.

"Sorry." Chester gave a sheepish grin with his apology and ducked his head a little. "I'm still getting used to a drop in affection."

The kid's words took a stab at Dean's chest with their similarity to his own time growing up. The difference between them was that Gabriel had apparently always been affectionate while raising his son, whereas John Winchester had been severely withdrawn from Dean when his son wasn't even ten-years-old. Mary's death had taken more than one parent from Dean and diverted John's attention to Sammy.

Dean visibly relaxed more as he looked at Chester and he stepped forward, putting his hand on the shorter male's shoulder. The nephilim looked up at Dean and when the older Winchester removed his hand and delivered a light rap to the same shoulder that he had been touching, Chester smiled wide and gave Dean a look of appreciation as they had a silent moment of commiseration.

"Thanks Dean," Chester said when Dean removed his hand.

"Yeah, yeah." Dean rolled his eyes. "So did you just come out here to save some of your dad's face, or was there an actual point here?"

Chester grinned at the light, playful tone blended in with the stern voice. "Actually, Sam and Uncle Cas agreed it would be best to rest and question the locals tomorrow. This way we could get the best chance for getting a lead that way."

"Figures," Dean grumbled as he glared off in the direction of the group's cabin, silently damning his brother and angel for conspiring to stop for the night. Bitches; the both of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be coming out soon. Sorry this one took so long, but when I got back from Ohio my manager hit me with a whole bunch of 12-13 hour shifts. I do have some inspiration on this still, I'm not fizzlin' out, I promise =) Also, I'm going to need a new city soon, so if anyone has a place they'd like to see the boys go, do speak up =) Same goes for any lores or legends you might like to see get used =)


	7. Of Fathers and Sons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally time to get the ashes and it looks like things just might run smoothly...

"How have they been treating you?"

Chester shrugged as he sat across from his dad at a bakery in the town that Gabriel was hiding out in while he waited for his Grace, or what would be left of it, to be returned to him. Leave it to his father to find a place with a bakery that specializes in sweet things. "Sam and Uncle Cas have taken to me," he answered after toying with his biscotti for a moment. "Dean is still a little standoff-ish, but I get it. He's getting a lot better the longer we hang out though, so that's good."

Feeling his Grace reach out to him through his son's own Grace was a difficult experience for Gabriel because all he wanted to do was take it back in. Every fiber of his being was crying out in anxiety over such a big part of him not being where it belonged, but this was something that had to be done so he could help fix as much as Death was allowing him to. Gabriel did smile though, happy that Chester wasn't running into as many problems with the Winchesters as he had thought his son might. He took his attention away from his Grace, and focused on Chester, as he popped a piece of his brownie in his mouth and leaned forward on his elbows.

"So, how are they? Does Dean have the Mark?"

Chester's brows knitted together as he nodded. "When I look at him, I can see the evil that's buried underneath and it scares me." He stirred his coffee with his biscotti before he took a bite of the treat. "I know you said you saw everything already, but I'm worried we might be too late."

"Well _don't_ worry." Gabriel spoke up, his tone cocky as usual. "If Dean has the Mark then it means that Sam's done the human blood trick and it's tamed down the demon side of Dean more than enough to have bought us plen-ty of time." He gave a wide grin before popping another chunk of brownie in his mouth. "So, what about Cassy?"

"He's definitely fading as you said he would be." The nephilim finished off his biscotti and chased it with a mouthful of coffee. "He is doing a very good job of hiding his weakness from the Winchesters, I'll give the guy that."

"Castiel was never one to show when he was weak or having trouble." He ate his last piece of brownie and gave a fond smile at the memories in his head of Castiel, when the brothers were much younger, before the first time the Archangel had gone into hiding. "How's Dean-o treating my baby bro?"

Chester chuckled. "He frustrates him to no end, but he treats him as good as Dean could be expected to treat someone close to him when he's feeling vulnerable."

Gabriel gave a knowing nod as he mulled over the words. He may have only spoken with the guys a handful of times, but he always checked in on them, even if they couldn't see him. He had even ridden around in the Impala a few times without them knowing, and man, some of the conversations those two had... The archangel took a big gulp from his hot cocoa and licked his lips.

"If he gives you any big trouble, I'll come in."

"I don't think you'll have to do that Dad." Chester was suddenly smiling wide as he looked at his father. "I had an interesting talk with Dean and it gave some pretty good news."

"Oh?" Gabriel's eyebrow rose up with his skeptiscism. "What good news would come from a talk with Dean?"

"He won't keep you away from Uncle Cas if you ever wanted to see him." Chester smiled as the words spilled from his mouth in his eagerness to share. "He said he wouldn't keep anyone away from their family, and that you guys were no exception."

"Well, once everything is fixed, we'll see how his tune changes." He finished his drink and looked out the window. "How's the other muttonhead?"

Chester noticed the shift in his father's body language but he wouldn't bring it to attention. He would treat it as cautiously as he had to treat the subject of Dean around Castiel. "Sam is eager to help his brother, like you said he would be, and he's been as helpful as he can be in getting Dean to like me." He finished his drink and set the empty cup down. "He has questions, and doubts, but I'm doing my best to reassure him. He wants to believe the Dean is going to be fixed, so he's willing to help me pull Dean along for this ride."

"And you're going after the ashes tonight?"

"Yes sir."

"It won't be too hard of a task, it's the next one that's going to be a hassel, but I know you have it under control."

"I'm not eager to start that part of our quest, I'll tell ya that."

"I don't blame you kiddo, but as I said, you got it."

Gabriel's confidence in him made Chester smile as it reassured him. "Thanks Dad."

"No problem Ches." Gabriel gave his son a gentle "don't argue" look before he said the words Chester had been dreading for the past few moments. "You should probably get back to the boys before they want to ask too many questions."

Chester frowned as he slumped over some at having to leave his dad again. His dad was human right now, due to the Grace swirling around within his own, and Chester was always worried that Gabriel would have trouble without his son there to save him. He looked up to his dad for how much courage he was showing, and for the selfless act of risking his Grace to save the Winchesters and his younger brother. He could only hope that he would turn out as good as the one who raised him.

"I know we said that we need to keep our meetings brief and infrequent, but please Dad," he begged softly, "call me if you need me."

Gabriel rose up from the booth, and when Chester stood as well, the temporary human pulled his son into a tight hug and held him for a moment before they both released one another. "I'll call you, but stop worrying about me. I've been around long enough to take care of myself Ches, so focus on fixing the boys and then get back here with my Grace, okay? Love ya kid."

"Love ya too, old man."

Gabriel smiled at the empty place where his son had been and gave a soft sigh as he left the cafe and headed back to his safe house.

\-----

After his short flight back to Michigan, Chester landed inside the cabin and startled Sam in the process since the Winchesters hadn't had Castiel just pop in on them in a long time. He smiled at the younger Winchester. "Any progress in finding the grave?"

"Yep." Sam answered as he messed around on his laptop. "Minnie was buried at Forester Cemetary, so we're going there tonight. Luckily it's right up the road from us so once we burn the body we can high-tail it out of town without having to avoid the locals for too long."

Chester nodded to show his approval and looked around when he noticed the absense of some comment from Dean. "Where are the others?"

"Dean found out about some place called Willis' something up the road so he went to get food since there's nowhere good enough for him to eat." As Sam spoke he rolled his eyes, but didn't take them off of the laptop, earning Chester's curiosity. "They should be back soon though. Where did you go off to?"

"To check in with Dad."

Sam looked up at that announcement, brows raised slightly and eyes curious as he looked at the nephilim. "How is he?"

Chester was surprised by the sincere sounding tone, but he didn't let it reach his face as he met Sam's stare. "He's good--eager to get his Grace back--but good. Thank you for asking." He got the response of a slight shrug and subtle nod as Sam looked back to his laptop. "So, can I ask what's so interesting on there?"

Sam looked up and scooted over so Chester could sit by him on the booth-style part of the table; on the opposite side was a bench-style seat instead of a matching booth seat. When Chester was seated by him Sam gestured at the screen. "I was looking at some recorded sightings of Minnie, to see if she was only seen at the beach, or if maybe she's been seen at her grave as well."

Chester looked at the page with an amazement that was vaguely similar to the first time Sam and Dean showed Cas a web-page. "Why are you trying to find that out?"

"So I know what to expect when we go to her grave," Sam explained as he scrolled down his current page. "Whether we can dig her up, burn her and collect the ashes and then just go, or, if we're going to have a spirit get angry at us for disturbing her resting place."

"Have you found anything?"

"So far it looks like she's only been seen down at the beach, just walking. But there are some stories that say she's tried to get girls of her age to join her in the waters, presumably to drown."

Chester frowned as he listened to Sam, his brows knitting tightly between his eyebrows. "I can't imagine being a spirit that was unable to move on." His voice was soft and resonated with his sadness as he spoke. "Dad's told me about the spirits that are stuck here--how many there are--and I can't help but pity them all. They'll never know their final rest."

"Hey, uh, in the video Gabriel said that he taught you everything he knew, right?"

Chester looked at Sam with curious eyes as he nodded. "Every bit of human and angel knowledge he had himself," he answered, "why?"

"So, are there any questions you do have? Something you might have come across that he hasn't mentioned?"

"Sort of...But I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have known the answer."

"What is it?"

Mulling over whther or not to ask the question, Chester hesitated for a moment longer before he asked his question. "What would _you_ do if my dad showed up?"

Sam leaned against the back of the booth and toyed with the pen he had set by himself, in case he wanted to take notes, as he thought heavily on the question. "Honestly, I don't know what I _would_ do if he showed up," he finally answered, his words obviously carely chosen as he did so. "I know I wouldn't outright attack him or anything, but I wouldn't exactly jump for joy."

"Because of the Mystery Spot," Chester said with a small nod of understanding to match his tone.

"No," Sam corrected, "actually, given the fact that he's saving Dean's life by risking his Grace, I think I can overlook that incident. And yes, he did try to force Dean and I into becoming vessels for angels who wanted to basically destroy the world, but I get it, I do. Looking back on all of it I understand why Gabriel did what he did, but that doesn't mean I... _forgive_...him." Sam set down the pen and looked at Chester, who was hanging on to every word the taller male spoke. "I appreciate everything your dad is doing for us, but what I do know is that I'm not ready to see him in person yet."

Chester was about to speak when he was startled by the door swinging open by Dean, who was walking in front of Castiel while carrying several bags that were full. The nephilim was caught off guard by the huge smile on Dean's face, and for a moment he thought perhaps his uncle and the human had finally noticed their compatibility...And then Dean spoke.

"Tonight, gentlemen, we're having steaks."

\-----

Not only did Chester surprise his companions, but he surprised himself at dinner. Dean, remembering how Cas could really chow down when he got ahold of something that tasted good--while figuring Chester might do the same, being a nephilim and all--had prepared a lot more food than they needed. Sure enough, Cas was satisfied with two helpings; Chester finished what would have been leftovers. It had been his first time having human food, and add in the fact that Dean was a great cook, it was an amazing event for the newest member of their team.

Sam and Cas were stunned, shocked into silence, and Dean was stunned as well, but instead of staring at the nephilim like he was a circus novelty as his brother and angel were, he couldn't contain his amusement. When Chester finally leaned back with a noise of satisfaction, Dean burst into a bout of loud, hearty laughter that earned him a "confused Cas" look and an eye roll from his brother, who took that moment to start cleaning up from dinner. Chester looked over at Dean with a confused and curious smile, oblivious as to what was going on.

Dean pat him firmly on his shoulder with a big smile. "You just put Cas to shame little man." He praised the nephilim and stood up before he stretched and then headed to the fridge.

Chester looked at Castiel, smiling more when he saw the pleased look on his uncle's face as he watched the human retrieve a couple of beers. When he looked back to Dean, the Winchester was standing by the table, holding out one of the beers to Cas and giving a slight jerk of his head towards the door. Chester watched as his uncle slid out of the seat and followed the human outside before he looked over at Sam who was cleaning up from Dean cooking. It amazed him how at ease the hunters were right now when they were going to be digging up a body to burn it soon. But with how long the Winchesters had been hunting it really wasn't all that surprising once Chester thought about it for a moment.

It wasn't very long after dinner that the team loaded up in the car and headed North to Forester Cemetary. Once they got there it didn't take long to find the Quay grave, and while Castiel and Chester leaned against the hood of the Impala, Sam and Dean began the dig.

"I went to see my dad..."

Even though he was digging, Dean did his best to eavesdrop when he heard Chester's words. Castiel, who was standing by Chester, gave Chester his full attention at the mention of his brother.

"How is he?" Castiel asked quietly, aware that Dean could hear, but unaware that he was listening in.

"He is doing well." Chester answered as he glanced over at the Winchesters who already had a good two foot hole dug into the ground, thanks to their years of doing numerous salt and burns. "He sends his regards; he was mostly asking how the three of you were doing and I gave him a small update."

"Is there anything else that you're allowed to tell me?"

"He's very confident in us, even though I'm not really looking forward to the next task. It's a bit dangerous but it's nothing these two couldn't handle. And I'll be there to help too, so it should go good."

"Yeah, what is that next task anyway?" Dean piped up from the grave they were shoulder deep in.

Since they were in the process of putting the bones from the coffin into the bag they brought with them, which meant the first task was done, Chester knew it was okay to tell them the next step. "We need the horn of a demon that has never seen Hell."

Sam and Dean exchanged a look of confusion before turning the twin stare on Chester while Dean was the speak up. "Where _exactly_ do you find a demon that has never seen Hell?"

"New Jersey..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long, I wanted to draw the chapter itself out a bit since it was the end of this task. I was thinking of having longer chapters to mark the end of each task, what do you guys think? Also, if you've figured out what's in NJ, what do you think? =)


	8. This Is Why We Communicate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully Dean hasn't made a mistake pulling a typical Winchester move.

_Dean trembled beneath the light touch of the fingertips that were brushing across his bare chest as Castiel stared down at him from his pushed up position. Beneath Castiel Dean was laid back on the bed and Cas was resting between Dean's spread legs, his body lower than Dean's so that it would be in just the right spot to have Cas's head lined up with Dean's navel. As Cas dipped his tongue into the ring of flesh, Dean's breath hitched and his lidded, hazel eyes gazed towards Cas, only to have the angel raise his own, startling blue eyes as a kiss was placed above his lover's navel. The contact sent an electric sensation through Dean and made his eyes go wide---_

Dean's eyes shot open as he was startled awake by the all-too-real dream. At the sudden movement next to him, Sam, who was driving Baby towards New Jersey, looked over at Dean with a worried look on his face. "You okay?"

The older Winchester nodded and ran his hand over his face as he sat up in the passenger seat. "Yeah, fine."

Sam's worried look dissipated into a very unconvinced "yeah whatever" look as he diverted his attention back to the road. "Going back to sleep, or are you awake for good?"

"Nah I'm up," Dean grumbled. "So where are we?"

"Halfway between Knox and Clarion."

"Pennsylvania already? Damn, how long was I out?"

"About three hours," Sam answered after a check of the car's clock, "you went out like a light around Sandusky. I was actually about to wake you up so you could call Cas and see if he needs to do a gas up yet."

"If he hasn't called he probably doesn't need one yet. Did I, uh, say anything when I was out?"

Sam debated whether or not to inform his brother of the things he did indeed say when he was asleep, but decided that he would rather not repeat the things moaned to an angel who was thankfully not in the car with them. "If snoring as loud as possible counts as talking, then yes Dean, you talked." _Way too much,_ Sam thought to himself.

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

Dean removed his phone from his pocket when _"Smoke on the Water"_ blared from the device, indicating an incoming call that he answered as soon as he saw Cas's name appear on the screen. "What's up Cas?"

"Hello Dean," rumbled the voice over the phone line, reminding Dean of his short-lived dream. "Chester is hungry and the car needs gas. How long until we pull over?"

_"I want to try a Taco Bell!"_ Chester cried out in the background.

Castiel gave an exasperated sigh. "He's been getting worse since he smelled something off the highway back in Emlenton."

_"A McDonald's would be fine too!"_

Dean chuckled and used the side mirror to look back at the old car following them. Inside the other car, he could see Chester looking around and talking animately, over-flowing with a constant chatter of fast food places that Dean could hear on Castiel's side of the phone. "I guess I shouldn't have introduced him to greasy burgers, but as a responsible adult it was my job to educate the kid."

"Dean," Cas groaned in frustration. "We need to stop soon."

_"How good is Burger King?"_

Dean's outburst of laughter made Sam smile a bit since it was a good feeling to see his brother this amused, and, because he knew his brother was on the phone with Castiel, he could relax since he knew it had to have been over something good.

"We'll keep an eye out for a place to pull over," Dean promised as his laughter finally died down. "Tell Chester to chill out or I'll keep us going."

"Alright Dean." There was an awkward moment of silence on both ends that almost made Dean squirm, and thankfully Cas was the one to break it. "Will you call me, or should we just pull over when you do?"

"Just pull over when we do."

Dean hung up and pocketed his phone. When he felt an intense stare on him, he turned and looked at Sam, who was already looking at him with a curious and questioning look. "Chester is drivin' Cas bonkers asking about food and Cas wanted to know when he can end the torture." His explanation, which of course left out the fact that Cas _did_ need to gas up, drew an amused chuckle from Sam as his brother paid attention to the road again. "I was thinking just pull over at this exit coming up. Looks like there's a McDonald's and a Kwik Fill so we can gas up Baby's tank and fill up ours."

"Speaking of pull overs... Are we going to be getting a room in Jersey, or are we going to be camping out?"

"We can get a room for a few days, but I was thinking of calling in a favor to maybe save us some hunting time."

"Who do you know that could possibly have any knowledge on trapping _the_ Jersey Devil?"

\-----

Castiel noticed his nephew seemed uneasy, despite Chester's best attempts to hide his discomfort. He was near rigid in his spot on one of the two twin beds the room had to offer, and he had a look of concentration etched into his features. Castiel himself couldn't feel anything while he was in this human state; the borrowed Grace inside of him was too weak to keep it on full and constant alert, so he settled for tapping into in emergency situations. Given Chester's agitated state, it was looking like he might have to tap into the Grace right now, but he would wait to see.

"Chester." At the sound of his name Chester looked to his uncle and his eyes seemed to come back into focus as his attention was grabbed. "Is something wrong?"

"I...I don't know," Chester answered as he tried to make sense of the weird current rolling over his senses. He could feel Gabriel's Grace rolling around in distaste and anger, but to Chester's knowledge nothing had happened to cause these emotions that were accidentally being sponged up by the young nephilim's emotions. "I feel...weird. I'm torn between flying away, and staying to fight something. I've never felt anything like this before."

"Something is probably nearby," Castiel replied as he watched his nephew show worry now as he got up from his bed. "Chester?"

"It feels like it's coming from Sam and Dean's room," Chester answered before he disappeared from their shared hotel room, leaving behind a worried Castiel who quickly followed suit.

\-----

"What makes you think I know anything about the _Jersey Devil_ of all things?"

"Look Crowley, the thing is a demon so it's gotta be right up your alley," Dean said as he got comfortable on the edge of his bed and tilted his head at the demon that stood near the door of the hotel room. "So dish, how do we trap the thing?"

"You boys are wasting my time," Crowley grumbled as he rolled his eyes and looked at Sam. "Why do you even want--"

Crowley was caught off guard when a sudden force slammed into him, pinning him to the nearest wall and knocking the wind out of him. As he regained his senses, and his vision stopped swimming, the form before him cleared and he saw a creature he had never seen before. As well as a sword that looked familiar, but Crowley was too focused on his attacker to try to figure out where he knew the weapon from right now. He winced slightly as the tip of the blade was pressed harder against his chest, almost to the point of breaking skin.

"What the Hell is this?" The King demanded as he aimed an angered glare at the two Winchesters, who surprised him by trying to talk the creature down.

"Chester, let him go," Sam lightly begged while using his "negotiator" tone.

"What is this _thing_ and why is it here?" Chester snapped at Sam as the anger in his father's Grace raged inside of him, clouding his judgment. All he could see before him was a monstrosity hiding under a rotted vessel and for some reason it was causing his father's Grace to spiral out of Chester's control.

"Chester."

Dean's firm, authoritive tone tapped into some part of the nephilim's mind that helped him start to control his father's Grace, and Dean watched as Chester cocked his head in his direction just slightly. He took it as a sign that he has Chester's attention, even for a second, and continued.

"Let him go, he's here to help." A looked flashed in Crowley's eyes at Dean's words and Dean gave him a warning look as Sam edged closer to the two. Right now he needed Crowley to not be seen as anything besides useful, and with how Chester was acting, he was worried that his source of information--and comrade, though Dean would never admit it--was about to be killed. "His name is Crowley, and he is here because I called him here. Now, as I said Chester, let him go."

" _What_ is he?" Chester questioned, his voice dripping with tension as he fought the urge to stab his father's sword through this disgusting creature. 

"He's a demon."

"This is a demon?" Chester narrowed his eyes at Crowley as he looked him over. "Why have you brought a _demon_ here?"

"I'll answer your questions after you let him go."

When the door opened and Castiel entered, all eyes except those belonging to Chester focused on him. Taking in the sight before him, Castiel frowned in confusion and concern. Chester's body was basically vibrating with the Grace that had gone unstable, and he had Crowley pinned to the wall with Gabriel's Archangel blade. Crowley obviously had one of his best "calm yet irritated" masks in place, but Castiel could only imagine what was actually going through the King of Hell's mind as he stared down the semi-long blade. Sam was throwing Castiel a pleading look when the angel turned to him and Castiel could feel Sam's worry across the room, but when he looked to Dean, he saw calm. The older Winchester looked calm, but his set shoulders and jaw were a sign to the angel that Dean was in Alpha mode.

When he was in Alpha mode Dean seemed to be able to focus more and contain the situation at hand better, and also things ran smoother. In this mind set he also made Cas admire him more, as he took on the role of leader a lot more easily and Castiel would happily follow Dean's lead. As leader his outward appearance warned others to challenge his command, and if they did challenge his leadership he was quick to reassert his dominant role.

Dean looked back to Chester and moved forward, firmly clasping Chester's shoulder. "Chester, let him go. Now."

Crowley watched the creature's face as he seemed to war with himself before he finally pulled away and sheathed the blade, which made it just disappear from sight. "What the bloody Hell is _he_?" The demon demanded as he looked to the trio of adults he was familiar with.

"He is a nephilim." Castiel was the one to answer as Chester allowed Sam to gently guide him away from Crowley, who had a look of shock momentarily flash in his eyes before he hid his reactions again. "He is the son of my brother, Gabriel."

"The Archangel?" Crowley checked, figuring out now where he had recognized the sword from.

"Yes," Castiel answered as Chester was led outside by Sam, leaving Crowley, Dean and Castiel in the room to discuss things.

"He seems like a loose cannon," Crowley scoffed in annoyance as he fixed his suit.

"Things are complicated right now, and he is needed. You, however," Castiel paused as he turned his attention to Dean, "what is _he_ doing here?"

Behind him Crowley rolled his eyes in offense as Dean returned Cas's challenging stare. "I brought him here to see if he knew anything about trapping the Jersey-freaking-Devil since Chester only knows that we need it, not where it is or-"

"But the plans did not call for any other outside help," Castiel cut in, squaring his shoulders at Dean as the human straightened his back more from the tension in the room. "What if this messes with things? Do you want to stay cursed?"

"Is this about the mark or have these two gotten in deeper?"

Castiel threw a look of warning over his shoulder. "Stay out of this," he growled and looked back to Dean. "We have a chance to make things right and you call in _Crowley_ of all people? We can't trust him, and who is to say he would give us accurate information?"

"You know, I have helped these two morons quite a bit so go preen your wings or something while Dean and I finish our talk."

"What's there to say?" Dean asked, his lips pulling into his usual semi-smirk. "Thought you didn't know anything?"

"Do you want my help or not?" When Dean didn't make any smart ass comments, but merely raised his hands in a sign of neutrality, Crowley gave Castiel a smug look and looked to the human who had called him to the hotel. "I won't just tell you how to trap it, I'll tell you how to summon it so you don't have to search all over the state for it."

Castiel look to Dean, and they both caught eyes and held the gaze as they silently challenged each other. After a few tense moments, Castiel admitted defeat and left the room, joining Sam and Chester outside.

"Now that Wings is gone, let's talk terms of my service."


	9. The Volcano Rumbles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Dean braces himself for a much needed conversation, Gabriel has a few things to say.

The small room of the Slumberland Motel in Mount Holly, New Jersey was too confining for the anger rolling through the young nephilim. He had never known anger until his father's Grace felt the presence of the demon. But now he felt his own anger, at Dean and Sam for calling in a demon without running it by him first. He didn't know what--if anything--those two might have messed up by bringing in the King of Hell. The King of Hell of all people or creatures, and _supposedly_ he was on their side, and Dean was asking him to just believe this to be true; Castiel was defending the demon too! For the first time in his life Chester was dealing with feelings and emotions he had never gone through, and earlier it all got to be so much that the human side of him actually shed tears because of how overwhelming it all was.

He needed help, he needed advice, but what would his father say if he told him about the demon that was involved? Gabriel had told him nothing of anyone named Crowley and now he was lost on what to do. Should he tell his father? Should he just go along with whatever Sam and Dean extract from this Crowley character? What was he to do? He raked his fingers through his short hair and sighed. 

He was alone in the room, but he was still curled against the wall by his bed as if he were ignoring someone in the room. Should anyone come in he wasn't feeling very social given that everyone had thought it fine to leave him in the dark and he wanted it to be loud and clear that he didn't want to be bothered. His father had warned him that the Winchesters could be frustrating, and had a bad habit of keeping quiet at the wrong time, but his words had been a vast understatement.

He tensed when he heard the door unlock and then proceed to open; he didn't bother to look and see who had entered, because at that point he really didn't care.

"Hey kiddo."

The nephilim was temped to curl in on himself more, but he refused to let Dean see how his presence was upsetting him. He settled instead for focusing on a spot on the obnoxious paint.

"I know you're mad at me," Dean said as he sat on the opposite bed, "and I'm sorry I pissed you off. I should have talked to you about calling in Crowley, but I didn't think it would be that big of a deal to cut out some hunting time. He knows how to get the Jersey Devil to come to us if that counts for anything."

As Dean spoke to him Chester had loosened up some. He was getting an apology, something that not many living people got from Dean Winchester, according to his father, and that alone was enough for Chester to decide to hear Dean out.

"I was going to check in with my dad today," he said without looking back at Dean, who looked up from his shoes when he was spoken to, "to find out where we needed to go. I've told you before that I know mostly everything--there are just some things that dad can't even tell me until it gets closer to that time."

"You didn't even hint at going to see him Chester, how was I supposed to know?"

Chester frowned at Dean's words. "You're right Dean," he said as he turned over and sat on cross-legged on the bed. "You couldn't have known, but you still should have talked to me and filled me in. I don't know what Crowley being here will do, and I don't even know how to broach this subject with Dad to find out if anything is messed up or not. How am I supposed to do this?"

\-----

In the room that the Winchesters were going to be sharing, Sam was doing research on the creature they were hunting, to see if there was anything known about it outside of the common lore and sightings. Crowley had told them how to draw it to them, but as for trapping it, a devil's trap wouldn't work because it had never been to Hell. It wasn't a "conventional demon" as Crowley had put it, but he had given them a spell that _might_ work, so they were banking on that spell. Now they had to figure out how to get one of it's horns. Of course Crowley couldn't tell them what would make that easier; he only knew so much.

"Should I go over there?" Castiel questioned, his tone laced with worry as he wondered about his nephew, and Dean, who had yet to return from checking on the nephilim. "It's been almost an hour."

Sam closed a web page and started looking over the next tab in the long line he had across his laptop screen. "It has been pretty quiet..." Sam mused as he read a new bit of lore involving the Leeds family. "I think it's best if we just leave them be unless we hear anything to make us worry."

Castiel looked at Sam with a curious expression. "Aren't you worried...after earlier?"

"You mean when we sprung a demon on a nephilim harboring two Graces?" Sam asked with an eyebrow raised as he looked up to meet Cas's gaze. "We had no way of knowing that he would act like that around Crowley. When Chester and I went outside he told me that he was barely about to stay in full control of himself. Apparently it set off Gabriel's Grace and it took all he had not to just destroy on sight, and Dean isn't a demon, so as far as I'm concerned there isn't anything to worry about."

Castiel uncharacteristicly drummed his fingers as he looked at the wall that seperated the two rooms with an uneasy frown, even though he nodded his head to show he was agreeing with Sam--even if only somewhat. "Speaking of Dean...Do you think he's doing okay with the Mark?"

Sam frowned a little at the topic he hated to discuss, because it was a reminder that he was close to losing his brother if this journey didn't play out like it was supposed to. He didn't know if he could handle losing Dean, and he didn't have any idea what he would do. He leaned back in his seat and pushed his long hair back. "He hasn't had any problems, that we've seen anyway, but we both know Dean..."

"We wouldn't know if something was wrong," Castiel grumbled with a brooding look that vanished to be replaced by an expectant look, as he sat straight up, when he heard the door unlock. He seemed to deflate with relief when Dean walked into the room, seeming like everything was okay.

In true Dean nature the eldest Winchester went over and plopped on the edge of his bed and looked over at his brother. "So, anything new on this thing?"

"Not really, just the usual stuff," Sam answered as he and Castiel exchanged glances before looking at Dean. "You two get everything worked out?"

"Yup. He poofed off to go check in with the douche."

Castiel narrowed his eyes slightly in frustration as a shocking ten-point-oh bitch face flashed across Sam's face. "Seriosuly Dean?"

"What?" He challenged as he laid down on his back and closed his eyes to avoid seeing the stared he knew he was getting from his brother and the angel. "The guy is a douche. He's just being a helpful douche right now."

Sam gave Castiel an apologetic look and in return he receiving a slightly defeated shrug. "Wonder how Chester's visit with his dad is going," he mused as he looked back to his computer.

\-----

"A fucking _demon_!?"

Chester flinched at Gabriel's booming anger, yet he was glad that his father was human for now, as his anger was less imposing due to his lack of Grace. The nephilim ducked his head as Gabriel started pacing in the living room of his safe house. "I didn't know they were even talking to him." His words came out just barely above a whisper.

Gabriel looked at his son and when he saw how Chester had withdrawn in on himself he went over to him and pulled him into a hug, rubbing his back in an attempt to calm him. "It's okay kiddo," he said with a soft tone, "I'm not mad at you; I'm mad at those two muttonheads." As he continued to rub Chester's back, Gabriel noticed that his son loosened up some and had brought his head up from ducking it. "That's it buddy, it's okay," he continued to soothe his son.

The first time Gabriel had become angered around Chester, he had been talking about Heavenly politics, and even though it was eons in the past it had severely angered him and when Chester saw him angry it had scared him. When it came to conflicts, Gabriel realized then, Chester was more human than angel and would definitely grow to avoid them as much as possible. 

When Chester finally pulled away, Gabriel beamed a smile at him and received one in return. "See? It's okay. Those two just have a lot of explaining to do. You showed them the DVD, and they knew how fragile this journey was, and yet they risk it all to bring in a demon. The Jersey Devil isn't even Hell's territory! Well...kind of...but still!" Gabriel sighed. "What did he even say?"

"He told them how to draw it out and how to trap it," Chester answered as he toyed with the hem of his shirt. "In exchange for his help they have to give him the other horn, since we only need one."

Gabriel rolled his eyes as he plopped down on his couch and spread his arms across the tops of the cushions on either side of him. "Were you filled in on how to accomplish everything?"

"I was so upset over everything that I didn't think to ask." He frowned and looked down, obviously disappointed with himself for not thinking of something so potentially important. "I'm sorry..."

"It's okay Chester, just find out when you get back and call me, okay?"

"Yes sir."

"Is there anything else I need to know about?"

Chester shook his head and shifted from one foot to the other. "Not that I can think of."

"Alright. You should head on back then, before they do anything else they shouldn't."

Chester gave a small nod before he left the room of his dad's temporary home. He was still bothered by his talk with Gabriel, and even though he wasn't the object of his father's anger he felt guilt for the things that were going on. If he had been paying closer attention to the Winchesters then they wouldn't have been able to sneak a demon in under his nose. It was his fault things were unstable now, and he needed to make sure nothing else went wrong. Who knew what the outcome would be next time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since the last update, but it's because of something awesome. I recently got a promotion, a few days after the last chapter was posted actually, and it was to General Manager of a store in the franchise I work for. Needless to say things have been pretty frickin' busy lol. But I'm getting things under control so it's been easier to write around work and life. If there's anything you guys would like to see in the upcoming chapter(s) I'd really like to hear it from you!


	10. No Sympathy for the Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why does nothing ever go according to plan?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you guys read the newest chapter I wanted to apologize for the long wait. I never knew it would be this busy being a manager. I'm going to try to get back on track with this though =)

Upon arrival at the Brendan T. Byrne State Forest Park, Chester knew something was off. He could feel it in his Grace, and his dad's Grace was also unsettled, making it a little difficult to focus on the task at hand. While the Winchesters were registering for a "camping" stay, the nephilim and his uncle waited in Baby's back seat for the brothers the brothers to get back to the car so they could continue on with their business. The only reason Castiel's car had been left back at the hotel was because it would be more believable if they had only one vehicle for camping instead of two.

Castiel looked over at Chester and recognized his tension due to the similar fidgeting as when Crowley had been in the next room at the hotel. "Chester?"

"I think we're in the right place..." Chester replied without looking at his uncle. Instead he kept his eyes trained out the window, scanning the surrounding area--he didn't know what he was looking for but he would see it if he looked hard enough.

There were numerous accounts on what this thing looked like, and though there were some key points that never changed, the rest varied so much he was only partly sure what to expect. Hell, for all he knew the thing was standing right in the tree line but it could hide itself. It would make since for the Jersey Devil to hide itself, considering the reports of it being sighted had dwindled down a lot in the last hundred years or so, with the last known sighting back in 1993. Either it could hide itself with some kind of natural camouflage technique, or it could just hide very well, but either way, Chester was not looking forward to this. This was one of his favorite cryptids, and after finding out it was real he was about to try to take its horns.

"If you're feeling uneasy you could head back to the hotel," Castiel offered as Sam and Dean climbed back into the car.

Dean turned and looked behind him at Chester, who had looked to Castiel to respond to his offer but instead he looked at Dean. "Is everything okay back there?"

"I think it's here," Chester answered, "and it's making me unsettled. I'll be fine though..."

"Are you sure?" Sam asked in his gentle "comfort-the-victim" tone.

Chester nodded and looked out the window. "Let's just get the horns so we can get out of here," he slightly grumbled as Dean and Sam shared a look before Dean looked to Cas to silently get his angel's opinion.

Castiel looked to his nephew, and then to Dean, before he gave a small nod to indicate that they could move ahead with their plans. And for a little while this seemed like it was a good call, the night was uneventful, aside from the Hunters trying to keep themselves occupied while time went on. And then the night began to fade...

They had set up camp about a half mile away from the spot Gabriel had said they would be better off setting up the trap and of course the last thing they wanted to do was be quiet. They actually wanted the Jersey Devil to find them, unlike those unsuspecting people who have witnessed it on random occasions. Within the campsite was the sigil that was supposed to keep it contained within a ten foot radius of said mark, so the plan was to lure it in and then get out of the radius.

But things are never as golden as you plan for them to be...

They had been noisy, especially Dean and Sam since the brothers had a couple of beers down and it was making them a little relaxed. Thanks to the different points of their lives where they drank heavily each had a tolerance, so a couple of beers was just relaxing, not intoxicating, so if things went south, they were okay. Chester had his first beer, ever, and had left it at just the one since he didn't care much for the taste, and Castiel stayed sober so he could monitor the new-to-alcohol nephilim. Thanks to the beer, the youngest member of their party had relaxed a bit but there was still something in the back of his mind, and it warned him not to let the weak alcohol lull him into a sense of false security. No one knew what they were up against and he needed to keep that in mind.

Castiel watched his human charges as they told Chester loud stories about hunts they had been on either with their dad, each other, or when flying solo, and he smiled a little at how animated they were. It was a nice change from the usual tension, and he wished this could be just a normal camping trip. No monsters. No Mark. Nothing. He decided then that it would happen...some day.

Then the noise cut through their jovial mood. It was a screeching roar that was nothing like anything those of the group had heard. It chilled Sam's blood, as well as Castiel's and Chester's, but set Dean's blood ablaze as the mark on his arm began to burn from the sudden kick of adrenaline. They all went quiet and began to look around, trying to see through the darkness that was past the light from the camp fire's flames. Chester could easily get rid of the fire but the sudden darkness would mess with everyone's vision and that alone would be a stupid move. The noise sounded again, louder and closer this time and Chester's Grace, as well as his father's, went wild within his skin, turning his eyes a glowing angelic blue.

The sound of beating wings reached their ears barely a moment before a large shadow flew over the camp, the wind in its wake stirred the fire, casting more light around them. Another fly by stirred up the wind again and then the shadow made one more pass before it landed...just outside the carefully marked perimeter.

There was a moment that time seemed to stand still as the Winchesters, Chester, and Castiel took in the sheer size of the monster.

It stood on its hind legs, just barely taller than Sam, not including its horns, since those were curled masses on the side of its head, and for the most part it looked exactly like the legends said it would. It was more muscular than the lore pictures, and its feet were hooves that were attached to legs similar to that of a satyr that led up to a torso that was semi-thick with muscle. Attached to the back of the beast's upper torso was a set of huge, leathery wings that were large enough to easily act as a blanket for a high school-er. Its arms were long and muscled and at the ends were hands with claws that looked like they could easily tear someone to shreds. It's head was as big as a horse's, though it didn't look like a horse, but as its long snout opened wide to release a deafening roar, it showed off the rows of razor sharp teeth.

Chester's heart hammered wildly in his chest as he stared in awe at the massive beast; his favorite cryptid was standing before him and it was marvelous. It whipped it's long, thin tail behind itself as it roared again and Chester could swear he saw Sam jump at the noise, but his adrenaline was pumping too hard to pay attention to the younger Winchester.

"Hey, Ugly!" The beast focused on Dean, the owner of the voice, and snarled. "You show up just to stand there, or do you want a piece of us?" Dean challenged as he stood rigid, a strange look in his eyes--and it would have been noticed if anyone were paying close enough attention to notice.

As it was the other three men were focusing their full attention on the demon that growled deep in its throat at Dean and, with speed that surprised them all, charged at him.

Knowing where the ward boundary was, Dean raced for it, with the Jersey Devil on his heels and right before he could draw it into the circle he was airborne--raising above the trees and into the beginnings of the morning light. His shoulders ached from the claws that had sank through his shirt and into his flesh and he tried to raise his arm to stab the creature but one claw was deeper than the others and had gone into the bones of his right shoulder.

On the ground Castiel, Sam and Chester all panicked as they heard Dean's cry of pain as the pair disappeared upwards. Being the only one that could act appropriately, Chester caught Sam off guard as he spread his wings in an amazing display before he took off into the air after the two. Castiel's wings subconsciously ached at his despair at not being able to go after his human ward in his time of need and he sent a prayer to his missing father that the eldest Winchester would be okay.

Chester quickly caught up with the monster that was flying just above the tree tops with a squirming Dean still in its grasp and took out his father's sword, striking between its wings. He had expected it to let go of Dean, which it did, but he had not been expecting it to make a 180 turn as sharply as it did. Ignoring his base instincts he made a dive for Dean, leaving his back exposed to the creature--and it took advantage of this.

Dean remembered seeing the sun rising over the tree tops that the demon had been carrying him above, and then it got darker as he fell below the canopy. He was falling backwards, and he could see Chester tuck his huge wings back, increasing his speed as he raced towards the falling human. He could also see the creature diving behind Chester, picking up speed faster than the nephilim. Time seemed to slow as Chester jerked forward when the demon collided with his back and began to attempt to tear into the backs of his wings with its claws and teeth, sending them both in a spiraling downfall.

Down on the ground Castiel stared up in horror since his eyes could see all that was going on, while Sam's anxiety was off the charts since all his eyes could see was Castiel's face, and that was enough to scare him.

Breaking free of the demon, Chester fought past his pain and tapped into Gabriel's Grace, rocketing him straight at Dean, wrapping his pained wings around him and his cargo just as they began to smack into the branches of the trees they were falling through. He grit his teeth and focused on keeping his wings around them, despite the pain he was in, and making sure his back was to the ground, with Dean above him. If they were alone in a room and not falling towards the Earth their position would have raised some eyebrows, but right now all that mattered was the human's safety. As they fell, Chester used his own Grace to heal Dean's shoulder as quickly as he could, not knowing how useful he would be soon. 

"Dammit Kid, let me go!" Dean growled out, realizing what was going on, but it was too late.

Sam watched in horror as the bloody, winged mess slammed into the forest floor with a sickening thud. For what seemed like an eternity, Sam stared at the heap until Chester's wings unfurled limply to the ground, revealing an unconscious Chester and a very dazed Dean. His exhale of relief was matched by Castiel as neither of them had realized they had been holding their breath. Their relief was short lived as another unearthly screech filled the air just as the devil landed near his prey.

Since the plan was screwed to all Hell already, Castiel broke from the original idea and unsheathed his Angel Blade and rushed at the creature, only to have a large wing knock him back, sending him crashing into a tree. Watching the fallen angel get thrown back Sam knew he had no choice but to follow his lead of breaking from the plan. He took out his gun and took aim, firing at the creature. A sudden, deafening roar told him he hit the beast and as it turned its attention on him he began to back up towards the giant ward.

He had hoped that he could just walk it there but it charged at him and he had to turn on his heels and race to the ward and as he entered the ward he ran quickly to the other side, making sure it was good and trapped. As he exited on the other side he came across Castiel, who was standing on slightly unsteady legs, wincing in pain as he looked up to see what was going on. They both looked to the creature and were once again relieved when they saw it couldn't leave the trap. Deciding it could wait now, the two headed over to check on Dean and Chester, and Castiel frowned when he noticed the blood slowly spreading out from under his nephew's wings.

Sam looked to Dean, who was sitting against a tree, obviously still a little dazed from their impact. He hated to admit to himself but he was glad Chester took the impact and not his brother; he did hope that with Chester being a nephilim he would be okay though. He went over to his brother and helped him to his feet, letting him lean on him for a moment while he gained his balance, and walked with Dean to the other half of their group.

"How is he?" Sam asked Castiel, who was gently checking over his nephew.

Castiel shook his head and didn't look up at the brothers. "He's out cold, and he's badly injured. He may be part angel but he is still part human, and that fall would have killed a human. We need to get him somewhere safe, now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked it! It took me so long to work out the details of the fight mid air and what was going to happen and the devil is based off of the image found here ( http://www.ghosttheory.com/2010/05/04/jersey-devil-myth-or-mutant ). As always, if you have anything you'd like to see happen, or a place you want them to visit, leave it in the comments =)


	11. Fallen Angels...Who Knew?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Desperate times call for desperate measures, no matter how uncomfortable it makes poor Castiel...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read the notes at the bottom for an important update about this story.
> 
> Also a special shout out to my friend Ashley for the club idea!

It had been a while since Gabriel felt uneasy--and he didn't miss it any. As an angel with Grace he could pop in on anything he could think of as the problem until he found whatever it was and solved it. But as a grounded angel with no Grace he had no way of doing anything but to pace his living room and wait. Wait for a call from his child to let him know that they got the horns without a problem. Wait for his son to show up with the same message. Waiting. He hated waiting. If he had his Grace he could go through time and see that everything was okay, or pop in to check up on his son--instead he had to wait.

No. He needed a distraction.

\-----

It was going to take a lot of cleaning to get the blood stains out of Baby's backseat but Dean wasn't worried about that right now. The blood staining his cars seat was spilled because of someone trying to save him. That someone was currently laying on his stomach on a tarp that was spread out over one of the beds in the hotel room with his Uncle gently checking over his damaged wings. He still had yet to come to, despite being moved from the forest to the hotel, thankfully with the help of Crowley who had been called for since Castiel couldn't transport without his Grace. He had left after he had taken his fee--one of the Jersey Devil's horns--and brought their cars to the hotel.

"Did he mention to anyone if this was ever part of the plan?" Sam asked Dean and Castiel.

"No," Dean answered as he slowly paced the floor, "all he ever said was that we were getting the horns and going."

"There has to be a way to contact Gabriel," Sam responded as he raked his fingers through his long hair. "Or find him. Chester said he's human right now, so that means he needs to stay in the human realm, right?"

"Yeah, but in case you hadn't ntocied Sam the _'human realm'_ is kind of the planet Earth and it's not like we can summon him, so how are we going to find one fallen angel in a mass of billions of people?"

"If he knew where we were he might want to be somewhat nearby..."

The brothers looked to Castiel who had shyly glanced up, dreading interfering a Winchester conversation, but he needed to put something out that they hadn't thought of. He was part of the team, he should be able to help. He leaned back over one of Chester's wings, grimacing slightly at the sight of bone through the dried blood and feathers. He still didn't understand why his nephew had been so careless as to have his wings out...

Dean gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"If I had put my Grace someplace safe, I would want to stay as near it as possible in case something were to put it in danger."

"Could Gabriel feel his Grace? If it were near him?"

Castiel nodded as he reached the needle and thread they used for stitches, ready to doctor his nephew the only way he could right now. "If his Grace were to be in great distress he would feel it for miles. But Chester is out cold, with no outward signs of how he is doing, so I can't tell how he is doing right now."

"Where would you hide though?" Dean asked. "If you were Gabriel and you needed to stay nearby, what kind of place would you hide out in?"

"I don't think he would be brave enough to go where I think he would be..." Castiel frowned. "Then again my brother has been known to be a little reckless at times."

"So you have an idea where he could be?" Sam questioned, confused by the weird excitement he felt with that prospect. He forgot it though when he saw the uncomfortable shifting in Castiel's shoulders. "What?"

"It's....a place I heard about...when the angels fell. A...business venture of sorts...some set up since they were stuck on the ground."

Sam and Dean exchanged a look before they both focused on Castiel, making him shrink a little under their stare. "Cas, why do you look so uncomfortable?"

"It's your type of place...not mine..."

It took Dean a moment to get where his angel was going, but when he did, a small and amused grin tugged at his lips that he was obviously trying to keep under control. "Cas, is it a strip joint?" He smiled wide and looked at Sam when Cas hunkered down further over his nephew's damaged wings and focused extra hard on what he was doing. "An angel strip joint Sam. We are so checking that out."

"Why would you-" Sam started but was cut off by a very stern Castiel.

"Dean, you can't."

The oldest Winchester's shoulders lowered as he deflated and looked at the angel. "Why not? We _have_ to check it out in case Gabriel _is_ in there. It's our only way to help Chester."

Sam's bitch face registered an easy nine-point-oh at Dean actually trying to use Chester to check out some strip club. "Dean! Seriously!?" When his brother looked at him Sam shook his head in disbelief. "Chester is hurt because of saving you and you're really going to try to use him as your ticket into the club? That's low, even for you." He looked to Castiel, who was frowning in concentration as he stitched a shallow wound. "I agree with Dean, that we need to go in to see if Gabriel is in there, but why do you say we can't?"

"It's run by fallen angels, Sam," Castiel answered without looking up, "and if they are at their business, they will see you before you even arrive. My brother probably cast a spell over himself, before he surrendered his Grace, that would hide him from Angel Radar so if he shows up, yes it will be a surprise, but he won't be found out unless he slips up."

"How did you hear about this place Cas? Been there yourself?" Dean grinned, though he wanted his angel to have not gone. He didn't like how the thought of Castiel looking at some chick made him feel. He had been enraged and jealous, though he his it well, when he found out about Cas having his first time when they had been apart.

"I heard about it from Angel Radio--there was a world wide broadcast, anyone could be there, and no, Dean," his gravelly voice almost seemed to growl in offense, "I have _not_ been there myself. The last time I was in a place like that was when you dragged me there." His eyebrows knitted together in his confusion. "I still don't understand why she got so angry."

Dean chuckled as Sam gave him a questioning look that was quickly followed by a look and a head shake that made it clear he didn't want Dean to answer his unspoken question. "Look Cas, someone has to go in there. Is it going to be you, the only one here with knowledge of how to fix your nephew? Or will it be the two who are just standing around, doing nothing?"

The room was silent for a little while before Castiel finally gave a resigning sigh as his shoulders slumped a little in his defeat. "As much as I hate to say this, you are right... But you're going to need to know where to look."

And once again, Cas was right--it took the two brothers almost an hour of roaming the streets of Atlantic City to find the hidden entrance that was tucked away in an alley near the _Ripley's Believe It or Not!_ Building. He had been grumbling about how long it had taken them to find the place, but when they walked in Dean's eyes lit up and his mouth quit working when he saw all of the gorgeous women. Sam shook his head at his brother and kept walking into the main area, his eyes hunting for the reason they came here. It wasn't easy to see, given the dim lighting, and he knew that if they were spotted and recognized they were screwed, so he searched for Gabriel's familiar face as quickly as he could, doing double takes if he had to.

\-----

Gabriel had needed a distracton, and it was nice to get his mind off of things for a bit...And then he caught a glimpse of something...no...someone...No it wasn't. It couldn't be. Sam would never be in a strip club--he wasn't Dean. Gabriel continued to stare through the dim lighting, and when the guy turned to face his direction the archangel's breath caught in his human throat. When their eyes met across the room Gabriel's mind went racing.  
 _  
Why was Sam here?_

_Had he been looking for him, or was this an accidental run in?_

_Was Chester with them?_

A quick feel for his Grace told answered one of his many questions and he got up from his seat when the younger Winchester made his way over.

_Where did the other one go?_

_Should he run? Yes! They shouldn't be talking to each other right now, this is throwing things off!_

_But what if something happened? What if they were looking for him because something went wrong with the Jersey Devil? Or did Crowley do something when he came to collect the other horn?_

Whatever the case was, it wasn't long before Sam Winchester stopped near Gabriel, making it impossible to leave now. If he ran from them in the club they would definitely gain attention and everyone would be in danger--so he put on his best show. "Well hello Sam," he smiled, "What's a sasquatch like you doing in a place like this?"

"We're looking for a missing Trickster," quipped Dean Winchester, making Gabriel move himself so he could see both brothers at the same time and smiled at Dean. "Know where to find him?"

"I might know where he is." Gabriel smirked as he looked at Sam and Dean. "Depends on why you want to see him."

"Because the Jersey Devil is one feisty bastard."

Gabriel's smile faltered at Dean's words as a sense of dread spread through his body like wild fire. "What happened?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wanted to apologize again for the lack of updates. I unfortunately lost my home and had to move short notice, therefor I've been trying to get my life back together. One of the good things that have happened though, is my phone broke, which caused me to get a new one. How is this good? My new phone has an amazing editing program that is allowing me to post this chapter for you! And I already have another chapter almost done so you should be seeing another update soon. 
> 
> That being said, since the new season started (holy shit by the way) I have more wiggle room on what I want to do here and I hope you guys like what comes of it. 
> 
> Have a safe and Happy Halloween and as always if there is anything you want to see happen let me know!

**Author's Note:**

> Fun little fact about the places I use in every chapter, is that they're all real and it took a bit of research to link everything together. I've never written a Supernatural fic before, but I've been in writing for a super long time. I recently started getting more inspiration for the first time in a long time, so I'm going to run with it while I've got it. Let me know what you think! Also, if you have any cities or places in particular you would like to see the team go to, please let me know and I'll see about throwing them in!


End file.
